New Britain Lines Up New Plan To Save The Berkowitz Building

NEW BRITAIN — More than two years after the city bought the dilapidated Berkowitz Building, it has a prospective buyer who wants to renovate the structure for a housing and retail development, Mayor Erin Stewart announced Tuesday.

Douglas Bromfield of Capital Restoration Inc. is offering to purchase the long-vacant four-story building and adjoining properties for $130,000.

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"This redevelopment will turn a building that has been an eyesore in our community for decades into a vibrant retail and residential area that will foster new economic development," Stewart said.

The common council has a resolution to sell the properties and could vote before the end of the month. The sale would include adjoining city-owned properties at 49 and 53 Beaver St., where the building is located, as well as 610-626, 634, 666, 676 and 687 Main St.

"We're very eager to hear the details. This has been an eyesore for 20-plus years, and everyone would look forward to seeing it restored," council member Michael Trueworthy said Tuesday evening.

Bromfield has worked on the renovation of the Stowe Village housing complex in Hartford, the Albany Avenue branch of the Hartford Public Library and other projects, city officials said. He intends to preserve the pre-WWI architecture and brickwork of the Berkowitz Building, and to reopen it with retail and commercial space at street level and apartments on the upper three floors.

"Bromfield is also planning to construct a new building next to the Berkowitz Building and add a possible third structure on Beaver Street," city officials said.

"This neglected property will soon become a modern housing and retail complex, bringing quality residential units and more economic activity near the heart of our downtown," Stewart said. "Communities around the country have seen how mixed-use developments can provide a boost to underdeveloped areas."

Former Mayor Tim O'Brien engineered an agreement to waive steep anti-blight fines against the previous owned in exchange for New Britain getting title to the building for $22,000. O'Brien had hoped to negotiate a quick sale to a redeveloper, but that plan fell through. Broken windows have been boarded up, but otherwise the building has remained mostly untouched.

Stewart said the deal with Bromfield would require rehabilitation of the building within two years of the property sale. She said it will generate new tax revenue.

"This project, combined with the plans to bring new life to the Main Street overpass bridge and the opening of CTfastrak, will create a hub of smart, pedestrian-friendly developments that attracts more visitors and dollars to our sidewalks and storefronts," she said in a statement.